The coolest thing about 7 Worlds Collide’s The Sun Came Out is also its biggest flaw: Namely, that “group” founder Neil Finn brought the whole damn thing together — all two discs and 24 tracks’ worth — in a scant three weeks.

7 Worlds Collide, as the Finn fanatics among you will remember, was the name Finn gave the stupidly awesome live album he released in 2002 — a name derived from the fact that he was joined for its performances by his brother Tim, erstwhile Smith Johnny Marr, Lisa Germano, Radiohead’s Phil Selway and Ed O’Brien, and Eddie Vedder. (And yet it wasn’t a huge hit. Go figure.) Seven years and one Crowded House reunion later, Finn has decided to revive the 7 Worlds banner for something even cooler than a star-studded live compilation: A star-studded charity compilation, assembled to support Oxfam.

For the occasion, Finn re-enlisted his old friends Johnny Marr, Phil Selway, Ed O’Brien, and Lisa Germano, as well as a multitude of Finns (including Tim, Sharon, Elroy, and his son Liam) — and then went further, recruiting Jeff Tweedy, K.T. Tunstall, Bic Runga, Glenn Richards, John Stirratt, Pat Sansone, Don McGlashan, and Sebastian Steinberg to take their own turns in front of the microphone. This sprawling collective (which was actually even bigger — I only named the vocalists) holed up Auckland for a few weeks and emerged with The Sun Came Out. (more…)